One member of the Dutch Reformed Church, Johanna Brandt, prophesied that the Day of Judgment had come. In another case, Howard ( 2008) reports on religious explanations of the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic where appeal was made to ideas of sin and of an eschatological sign of Christ’s second coming. While bad air, divine punishment and witchcraft were postulated causes, for many the Black Death signaled the end-times (Lerner 1981 Dwyer 2016). As one example explanations of the Black Death (1347–1352) involved ideas of sin and apocalypse, acts of God and alignments of the planets. Throughout history pandemics and apocalyptic narratives have run closely together. While epidemics in the ancient world were generally accounted for in religious terms, a concept of contagion still existed (Feder 2013). Historically pandemics have been attributed to both religious and naturalistic causes. While Covid-19 is of course natural, the way it spreads is highly influenced by social, political and cultural factors. Cases are rising on a daily basis throughout Africa, the Americas, and Europe. Emerging in Asia in late 2019, the virus is present in every continent except Antarctica. To date there have been 9,738,975 cases and 492,390 deaths worldwide as of J(Worldometer 2020). > Are you rapture ready? Read more in this Bible study from Anne Graham Lotz.The coronavirus covid-19 pandemic is the most significant global health crisis of our time and presents the greatest challenge we have faced since the Second World War.
The details of this great event will be made known in God’s own time. What is important is that all Christians hold in common that Christ will ultimately return bodily, visibly, and gloriously to reign and rule with His resurrected and transformed saints forever and ever. Some of these events and their order of occurrence have simply not been made clear in the Bible. At this point, interpreters differ as to whether there will be a literal thousand year reign of Christ on earth or whether the white throne judgment and the new heaven and earth will immediately appear.Īll Christians do not agree on every detail of what will occur in the final events of this world’s history. As far as the latter view is concerned, the rapture will not be secret, since it will be part of Christ’s visible and triumphant return to end this present evil age (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). Many other evangelical Christians believe that Christ’s return and the rapture will not occur until the seven years of the tribulation have ended. > Be ready to meet Christ by giving your life to Him today. They will then be cast into the lake of fire, while the saved will live forever with Christ in a new heaven and earth (Revelation, chapters 19-22). > Signs of the end of the world? Read this Biblical wisdom from Billy Graham and Franklin Graham.Īfter 1,000 years, living unbelievers and the wicked dead now raised to life will be judged at the great white throne judgment. He will be victorious over His enemies and will reign on the earth for 1,000 years (the millennium) with His saints, the church. Then, second, after a period of seven years of tribulation on earth, Christ will return to the earth with His church, the saints who were raptured (Matthew 24:30, 2 Thessalonians 1:7, 1 Peter 1:13, Revelation 1:7). The effect of this removal, in the absence of multitudes of people, will, of course, be evident on earth. In this view, the rapture-which is the transformation and catching up of all Christians, dead or alive, to meet Christ in the air-will be secret, for it will be unknown to the world of unbelievers at the time of its happening. First, He will come for believers, both living and dead, in the “rapture” (read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). There are many Christians who believe that the second coming of Jesus Christ will be in two phases.
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